Why did Luke Skywalker look different in Episode 5?

Luke Skywalker, played by actor Mark Hamill in the Star Wars franchise was involved in a car crash in real life, which left him with a fractured nose and cheekbone, as well as several scars on his face.

However, the directors of Episode 5 worked on his character by having Luke be attacked by the wampa. In real life, he had facial reconstruction surgery after he was involved in a car crash in 1977.

“I was way out in the sticks somewhere and there were no cars and no traffic, thank God. I was going about 65-70 mph… I was speeding, going too fast… and what happened, I think, was that I tried to negotiate an off-ramp and lost control, tumbled over, and went off-road. “I just woke up and I was in the hospital and I knew that I had hurt myself very, very, very badly… but I wasn’t really sure. And then someone held a mirror up to my face and I just felt my career was over,” he said in an interview in 1978.

Hamill landed his first role in the franchise in 1977 in the movie Star Wars: A New Hope. Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber was the first lightsaber constructed him.